A month after Contra Costa’s biggest city lost its city manager to a sudden resignation, Concord leaders are beginning the search for a permanent replacement.

On Tuesday, the City Council will discuss whether to hire a recruitment firm to head up the nationwide quest — the first step toward filling the vacancy for good.

In November, after a closed-door annual review, Lydia Du Borg announced she was leaving her post after three years on the job. She had been with the city since 1977 in several positions and said that council members wanted the city to go in a different direction than she did. That was that. Not much has been said about the details of her departure.

In early December, Du Borg’s predecessor, the popular Ed James, took over in the interim, but he will only stay on for six to eight months. He will be helping with the search, city leaders said.

“We want someone who can carry on the things that Ed started,” Councilwoman Laura Hoffmeister said. James retired in 2005 after 10 successful years at the helm.

Mayor Bill Shinn said he hopes the new city manager, whoever it is, will help calm the recent turbulence.

In 2007, the city lost many of its department directors and other managers as well as the city manager and assistant city manager. There has also been some turmoil in the housing department, which prompted the city to outsource parts of that program. Some housing department employees said there wasn’t enough oversight — the type James had always provided.

“Having that instability sort of wobbles everyone’s knees a little bit,” Shinn said. “So we need to find someone who understands where the city’s been and where it needs to go.”

He said the replacement will have to be someone who every council member will be able to get behind.

Though no one will talk about the issues surrounding Du Borg’s departure, at least one public scuffle took place between Du Borg and Councilwoman Helen Allen, during a February council meeting, regarding the Concord Naval Weapons Station planning process.

“Whoever we get, it has to be someone the entire council can rally behind,” Shinn said. “I thought we had that with Lydia, but we didn’t.

Hiring a recruitment firm is the way to go, Hoffmeister said, because they put together the process from start to finish. That could include interviews with council members to see what each wants in a new city manager, and it could include a public input process.

The firm would do in-depth interviews with candidates using criteria set by the council, and it will narrow the field. The council will do interviews with those candidates, according to a staff report, and then choose a replacement.

The council will pick which firm it wants to use by the end of January. The process would cost $25,000 to $35,000.

The council could pick the new city manager by June.

Hoffmeister said the council will determine the person’s salary based on work experience and the market.

Du Borg made $205,000 a year, and James is making $200 an hour, four days a week plus travel and housing expenses. He commutes to Concord from his home in Nevada County.

Both Shinn and Hoffmeister said James will likely stay on until the new city manager is on board, and there could be some overlap.